Yeh-lu Chu'tsai the Magician

Who
is Yeh-lu Chu'tsai?

The
historical figure of Yeh-lu Chu'tsai and his significance is a
relatively overlooked one. Although he has rightfully been described as
one of the greatest statesmen of the thirteenth century, contemporary
Mongols tend to dismiss him because he is Chinese, since the modern
Chinese atrocities perpetuated by the tyrant Mao Zedong and his clique
of co-tyrants and epigones have instilled in many Mongols a strong
dislike of everything pertaining to China. However, the ancient
historical record bespeaks a Mongolian/Chinese contact of long
standing, and this, in addition to the different characteristics of
these two worlds, indicate that there is every reason to consider the
Northern/Siberian/Mongolian and the Southern/Chinese civilizations as
complementary opposites.

It
was therefore what could be expected when Chingis Khan, upon his
seizure of Beijing in 1215 singled out this Chinese man of learning and
wisdom. To call him Chinese is a simplification, as he was really of
Mongol extraction. Thus, even if his upbringing and education was
Chinese, spiritually he was as Mongolian as any Mongol, and it must
have been natural to him to serve Chingis Khan and the Empire. Yeh-lu
Chu'tsai was to assist the Mongol emperor in building and administering
the new state. He became Chingis Khan's "chief adviser" or "chief of
the secretariat" as he is often described. The story is more extended.
From 1215 and until the passing away of Chingis, Yeh-lu followed the
Great Khan as his close and trusted friend. Yeh-lu Chu'tsai remained
forever faithful to Chingis Khan, and his wisdom evidently contributed
to the success of Chingis' work. He had many talents. He was a
herbalist, who used to prescribe medical herbs to alleviate the effects
of the killing of war. His using the I Ching is testified to by the
sources. Some even confirm that he was an astrologer who read the stars
to predict developments and potentials. Others merely call him
"astronomer." The most recent biography on Chingis, that of Paul
Ratchnevsky, mentions that Yeh-lu Chu'tsai also used to read probable
future developments by burning sheep's scapulae (scapulamancy) and
observing the patterns of the cracks. Moreover, he possessed a large
tent filled with not only writings and literature, but instruments used
for astronomical purposes. He was responsible for drawing up among
other things, a taxation programme, based on his knowledge of Chinese
economy and agriculture. The puzzling failure of Western historians to
admit that he was also a magician probably stems from the modern
divorce between science and religion that took place in the West during
the Age of Reason. Nevertheless, Yeh-lu was both a shaman and a
prominent statesman, and should be acknowledged as such. His service of
the Mongol Empire continued after the earthly life of Chingis Khan. Leo
de Hartog writes in his biography that after the passing of Chingis
Khan in 1227, Yeh-lu Chu'tsai and Subedei were "chiefly responsible for
continuing the principles of leadership laid down by Genghis Khan, and
the work of these two men had resulted in much being accomplished
during Ogodei's period of rule, both in civil and military affairs."
This is a fair judgement.

Chingis
chose him, this tall and bearded, dignified man, because he showed the
qualities of a high spiritual being: Faithfulness towards his former
masters and his ideals, an utmost sincerity, and being a man of high
learning. This demonstrated that the Father and Founder of The Mongol
Nation was not a mere "barbarian," but mindful of all the components
that have to be integrated in a viable, healthy society. Yeh-lu
Chu'tsai is manifestly the symbolic link between the nomad world of the
endless steppes and forests on the one hand, and the urbanized culture
with its possibilities for learning, science and culture on the other.
Without this link, any modern de-urbanization programme is unrealistic,
since both elements, the nomad/natural and the urban, must be
simultaneously present to ensure a maximally strong cultural viability.
The traditional Mongolian culture is in many ways excellent, but in its
pure form its realistic area of application is limited. Without
possibilities for organized learning and science, the needs of the
human mind cannot be fulfilled. If the natural lifestyle were to die
out, however, humans would lose contact with and responsibility towards
nature itself. What the Mongols stand for, through the spiritual
principles of the Etugen and the Tengri (names of the Mongolian spirits
of Nature), and the building process of their foremost exponent Chingis
Khan, is one manifestation of the necessary complement and
counterweight to urban culture, and a very powerful one. It is salutary
to bear in mind that neither of the two principles, the "primitive" or
the "civilized," can stay healthy without an element of the other
principle also being present.

Chingis Khan understood this, and therefore he in 1206, upon his
investiture, instituted a written language for his Mongols. Before him,
the Mongols did not have any language of their own. When Yeh-lu
Chu'tsai upon Chingis' choice became the Mongolian State Shaman, he
became a link between the two worlds, because he was evidently a
mixture of Mongol and Chinese, genetically as well as functionally, and
therefore a representative of both worlds. And we are entitled to see
in the person of Yeh-lu Chu'tsai the symbol of the very combination of
the "primitive" and the "cultured" that must be put into effect in
order for humanity to obtain maximum "physical, psychological,
emotional, mental and spiritual" wholeness. It is thus only a matter of
course that Chingis Khan would want him as his chief advisor. Chingis
had from then obtained physically, as well as given to posterity, the
spiritual means to combine the modern and the ancient parts of human
culture, or if you like, the forceful and often ferocious intensity of
Nature with the mental development characterized by human culture,
something that was forever the aim of Chingis Khan. While Chingis Khan,
the descendant of the wolf and doe, is a child of Nature who wants
humanity to keep their animal connection to Nature, narrow-minded
backwardness and prejudice against innovations and development was
foreign to his mind, so he always wanted humanity to embrace the
highest progress also in the mental, scientific and technological
sense. In short, his was a general inclination to culture, and he
worked to help humanity to maintain both elements in our future to
come. Yeh-lu Chu'tsai, being the civilized complement to the Siberian
wilderness of Temuchin, was Chingis Khan's foremost assistant in this
work.

We are today challenged upon to prove that humans can simultaneously be
both true animals of Nature and spiritual beings. It
is up to us. Let the memory of the wise Mongol from China, Yeh-lu
Chu'tsai, inspire us in our endeavor to reconcile Nature and Culture in
a way that vigorously sustains the best elements of both.